What has change in America

Since I did not hear the presentation, I have no comment on Bill Watkins, the CLU economist who apparently insulted some folks by suggesting more immigration was a solution to California's employment problems.

However, I am interested in how Mr. Holm and "the likes of him" seem blinded to the fact that "classic American capitalism, free enterprise system" was and still is built on the backs of immigrants, both legal and illegal.

So, when I wave my American flag to remember my German/Irish mother who worked underpaid her whole lifetime as a waitress, I also remember the Chinese, the Europeans, the Irish Catholics and the Mexicans who pick the strawberries and other fruits and vegetables just a few blocks away.

Personally, I doubt Mr. Holm's "classic American capitalism, free enterprise system" is much interested in stopping illegal immigrants. Wouldn't this just stifle cheap labor? What would happen to the bottom line if minimum wages were mandated? Furthermore, I sinisterly suspect that big business wants us folks to believe immigrants are sucking up jobs and draining welfare systems, when in reality their effect is "modest" (according to 15 years of nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office studies).

Yes, it may be more entertaining to have an "enemy," or easier to blame someone who looks different, or to remain entrenched in deep-rooted beliefs, but when one argues that the United States is no longer America, then one must also notice that nothing has really changed … just the names and faces.